I set out for Jagdish temple around 9:30 with, my guide, Umesh. For about $6, he agreed to show me around Udaipur. Udaipur is named after its founder, Maharana Udai Singh II. The suffix "pur" means city. The cities in India with "pur" were founded by Hindus, whereas the cities ending in "bad," like Aurangabad, were founded by Muslims. I think the story goes something like that.... I assume the suffix "bad" means city in Urdu. The seven lakes surrounding the city are all manmade.
Jagdish temple enshrines a black stone image of Vishnu. Although the Jagdish temple is not as aesthetically pleasing as other Hindu temples, it is still frequently visited because few temples in India are devoted to Vishnu, the Hindu God who is a preserver and sustainer of the universe. Most Hindu temples are devoted to worshipping Shiva, the destroyer God. Even fewer are devoted to Brahma, the creator. Each of the gods have an animal vehicle.
This is Garuda, a creature who is half man and half beast. He is Vishnu's vehicle. Garuda makes my old ford Taurus seem extremely boring. I gotta look into getting my own special vehicle. Shiva rides a bull and Brahma rides a swan. I'm thinking a creature that is half tiger, half eagle would suit me well.
Because many people could not read, they carved Hindu teachings into the temple. These carvings educate people about karma and reincarnation. The bottom carvings are demons and those at the top are angels.
Above is a lake view of the City Palace. It is situated on Lake Pichola. 22 maharanas contributed to building and improving the palace. Members of the royal family, who are now figureheads, still live in the palace. The property also houses a museum and a very expensive hotel (about $700/night). The family owns 18 hotels in total. Although the family is no longer in political power, it still has great wealth and in that regard, is still very much in power. In India, money is power. You even have to bribe people to do something that they are already paid to do. Bribes are required to get a driver's license or even to cross easily from one state to another without undergoing an intensive vehicle search.
Residents of the hotel can ride around the palace property on these horses.
These ladies showered the hotel guests with rose petals.
I visited the museum inside the palace. The king had a rough life. A painting depicted his daily routine.
He woke up and walked around the garden in the inner courtyard.
He then sat around the fountain with his 200 concubines, who would entertain him. Using a bow and arrow, he would then go fishing in his lake.
He would watch elephants play tug of war in the outer courtyard.
He could send messages via carrier pigeons.
In the summer, he would live in his lake palace.
He could also visit Jagmandir Island where he was entertained by the ladies.
I took a boat cruise to Jagmandir. They were busy preparing for a wedding.
The island can accommodate up to 2,000 guests. At $200 per person (I had to ask), the bill can get pricey.
The staff was busy attaching piles of orchids to the display pieces, below.
Artists were painting pictures of the bride and groom onto glass within the complex.
View from the restaurant.
View from the outer courtyard.
After touring the city palace, we stopped at an art gallery. The building itself was provided to the artisans by the royal family. The artisans previously had their studios in the royal palace but were displaced when the royal family turned part of the palace into a hotel. This dresser is made from camel bone. They collect camel bones from the desert then grind them into a powder. Resin is then mixed with the powder to create blocks of camel bone. The blocks are then sliced and used to make furniture.
Umesh took me to his favorite Indian restaurant to have thali. It has seven different small vegetarian dishes and is served with roti and rice. I had three servings of the potato dish and 4 roti. Umesh typically eats this for lunch and dinner. The types of vegetable dishes rotate daily. The creamy curry was okay. It also includes a piece of bread made from chick pea powder and a hard, dense, glazed munchkin-looking dessert.
Our next stop was the Royal Gardens where the royal ladies would go to cool down in the summer months. The only man allowed inside was the king.
The fountain water flows from a lake built a few feet above the gardens. Similar to the fountains at the Taj Mahal, gravity powers the fountains.
The fountains in this area are surrounded by mango and palm trees, which kept the gardens cool. The sound of the water flowing onto the stone sounds like a tropical rain storm.
After my city tour, I hiked up to sunset point. It was cloudy and hazy, so I wasn't too disappointed when the sun didn't appear.
The Lake Palace at dusk.
Before dinner I stopped in another textile shop. The owner sold a range of scarves, including this $2,000 hand embroidered cashmere scarf.
The scarfs above ranged from $700 to $1,200. I chatted with the shopkeeper for about 2 hours. It was late and he didn't have any other customers. The women in Kashmir embroider them in the winter months when they cannot work in the farm. The finest cashmere is spun very thin and is expensive, in part, because not many people have mastered the art of spinning it so thin. I also touched one of his finest scarves selling for $3,100. It felt like butter. It did not have any embroidery. The price tag was so high because it was a shatoosh scarf made from antelope hair. I'm pretty sure it is illegal to sell shatoosh. As a random aside, it is also illegal to hunt in India.
In general, it is difficult to know what is quality and what isn't. I ignore whatever people tell me and go by what looks or feels nice. Everyone works on the commission system. If you refer me or bring me to the shop, you get a portion of whatever I buy. My driver wants me to buy from the shopkeepers he knows, my guide wants me to buy from his guy, and the hotel owner from his. And I can say "his" because only men work in the shops. I try to avoid recommendations from those who receive commissions and find my own shops using the guide books, the Internet or word of mouth from other tourists. There is enough pressure to buy from the shopkeeper, let along when it is 2 against 1. But of course, "no pressure" "best quality" "final price" "unique" "no commission" "same quality as the one selling for three times the price across the street." I got ripped off buying a bottle of water from a 12-year-old girl my first day in India. Financially, it was a great investment. I learned my lesson by paying three times as much for bottle of water worth 20 cents. Now I fake like a softie pushover, then bargain hard, get the lowdown on their tricks after I bargain, and use my new found skills in the next town. Shopping here is more like an intellectually competitive sporting event. The salespeople all have about 20 years experience on me, as well as every other tourists. We play the game and think we win on occasion, but I'm pretty sure the tourists never really win.
After 2 1/2 weeks, I am starting to get accustomed to tripping over bulls. I ran into this cutie on my way back to the hotel. I loved his crooked horns.
Tomorrow I leave for Pushkar to attend the camel fair.
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Location:Udaipur, India
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